Yesterday, the Epic Games Store launched its first ever major sale, complete some eye-opening price reductions that almost seemed too good to be true. Well, it turns out many were, as some of the games initially listed in the sale have been pulled from the store, while others have re-jigged their prices several times.
The first to pull a vanishing act was upcoming game Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, which briefly appeared for a discounted price, but now displays a 404 error. Epic explained Paradox chose to remove the title at the last moment, as the publisher decided it no longer wished to participate in the sale.
“If a developer or publisher chooses to not participate in our sales, we will honor that decision,” Epic told Kotaku via email. “Paradox Interactive has chosen to not participate in the Epic Mega Sale and the game has been temporarily removed from sale. If you’ve purchased Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 during the period when the discount did apply at the time of check out, Epic will honour that price.”
According to comments made by Epic’s director of publishing strategy Sergey Galyonkin on Russian site DTF, Galyonkin initially though Paradox was aware of the sale mechanisms, but “after a little investigation” discovered he was wrong. Galyonkin also clarified that the game would eventually return to the store, and anyone who bought the game when it was discounted will still receive it for that price.
The next to follow was sci-fi survival sim Oxygen Not Included, the link for which now similarly results in a 404 error. Publisher Klei Entertainment is yet to explain why the game was pulled from the store.
So, why is this happening? Why are these publishers so bothered by the price reductions, and why does it matter whether more copies are sold via the Epic Games Store in a sale versus other storefronts – particularly when Epic gives developers a higher cut than Steam and is also covering the sales reduction of £10?